Abstract: There is often a tension between global economic growth and the environmental problems that often come with such growth. In particular, some find it unfair that the global north in particular expects some countries of the global south to miss out on economic and industrial growth that the global north has had for decades. These considerations are further complicated when considering that many areas of the global south will fare worse in the face of climate change and other environmental problems – even though those environmental problems have often been disproportionately caused by the actions of the global north. In the face of tensions between growing global demands and environmental strains, technology is sometimes floated as a solution for an imagined “win-win” scenario. Such technologies are sometimes proposed as a means of allowing the global south to go forward with growth, while still answering the environmental challenges that come from industrialization and development. This chapter examines these issues through the lens of a synergy-tradeoff approach guided by Diffusion of Innovation Theory and Systems Resonance Theory.
Topic: climate change
Narrativizing Climate Change Through Popular Culture
Vincent, Theodore*, and Jay Hamilton. (Forthcoming.) “Narrativizing Climate Change Through Popular Culture.” The Peace Review.
Abstract: This article attempts to explain lack of action taken to address climate change. It locates part of the problem in the difficulty of concretely grasping something as amorphous, complex and expansive as climate change. It argues that how climate change is narrativized—made tangible and relevant to each of us—plays an under-acknowledged, yet large part in effectively addressing it. The article compares how the documentary “An Inconvenient Truth” (Lawrence Bender Productions and Participant Media, directed by Davis Guggenheim, 2006) and the scripted narrative feature film “Mad Max: Fury Road” (Warner Bros., directed by George Miller, 2015) narrativize climate change. It concludes by speculating on the value of a broader variety of ways and means of narrativizing climate change beyond scientific reports and conventional documentaries for making possible more substantial action regarding it.
(* First-author Vincent is an undergraduate UGA student in the Honors College and Ramsey Scholar. This article started out as a CURO research project.)
The role of risk tolerance in the publics’ health risk perception and responses
Abstract: To better understand how uncertainty influences publics’ risk perception and responses, this study introduced risk tolerance as a new concept to public relations literature and then investigated how publics react to health risks with different temporal distances: climate change and foodborne illness. Through an online survey, this study found out that uncertainty induced by risk temporal distance, leads to varied risk tolerance, which subsequently influences where and how people seek and share risk information.
The role of risk tolerance in the publics’ health risk perception and responses
Abstract: To better understand how uncertainty influences publics’ risk perception and responses, this study introduced risk tolerance as a new concept to public relations literature and then investigated how publics react to health risks with different temporal distances: climate change and foodborne illness. Through an online survey, this study found out that uncertainty induced by risk temporal distance, leads to varied risk tolerance, which subsequently influences where and how people seek and share risk information.